Burke has coached the South squad since the high school all-star football game started in 2006. The South lost Saturday at Grant High 41-0 and has lost all three years by a combined 165-36.

"We've got some guys from big programs who played with a lot of class," Burke said. "But we have a lot of guys who didn't play. We need to get better participants and we would do better.''

The South each year is made up primarily of athletes from Lodi, Stockton, Tracy, Modesto, Merced and the foothills. The North is comprised of Sacramento-area players, including nine from Grant, the state open-division champion.

Most notably of those missing was a handful of St. Mary's players who were scheduled to participate, but withdrew when the Rams' season extended past the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I Championship into the CIF State Division II Championship. St. Mary's lost 37-34 to Cathedral Catholic of San Diego on Dec. 20.

As it was, the game got away from the South from the opening kickoff. An onside kick by Bret Harte's Joe O'Gorman failed, giving the North the ball at the South 41-yard line. The North scored six plays later on a 30-yard pass from Folsom's David Graves to Roseville's Zack Davis.

Graves put his team up 14-0 with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Grant's Darvin McCauley on the North's next drive. McCauley led all receivers with six catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns. He also scored on a 16-yard reverse play for the final touchdown.

"I really feel like this game was closer than the ones before," Burke said. "They made two big catches in the beginning for touchdowns. Two difficult catches."

The South had a chance to stay in the game later in the first quarter, but stalled on fourth down from the North 19-yard line when Amador's Matt Goggans underthrew a pass in the end zone intended for Stagg's Shaquille Senegal.

The North piled up 431 yards on offense to the South's 67 yards. The leading offensive player for the South was Chavez running back Demarieya Nelson, who carried eight times for 51 yards, his longest 18 yards. McNair's Ken Fox led the South in receiving with one catch for 13 yards.

Linebackers Marc Porras of Edison and Damion McMiller of Lincoln led the South with nine tackles each.

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